The US and Israel on Feb 28 launched what they described as a “pre-emptive” joint strike against Iranian targets, with Trump announcing start of “major combat operations”
A meeting of the foreign ministers of the regional countries, hosted by Saudi Arabia, has condemned Iran’s retaliatory campaign against Gulf countries, calling on the country to “immediately” cease the aggression
Trump has threatened to destroy Iran’s key South Pars gas field if there are further attacks against Qatar’s main gas plant
Hezbollah says it has fired rockets at a military base and a village in Israel, as well as targeting Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, Al Jazeera reports.
In posts on Telegram, the group said it had fired missiles at the Israeli military’s Tefen base east of Acre, and at the settlement of Even Menachem in northern Israel.
It said it had also fired rockets at a newly established Israeli military position in Nimr al-Jamal, opposite the border town of Alma al-Shaab, and had also targeted a group of Israeli soldiers in the al-Labouneh area of southern Lebanon.
A senior Russian official has called for the creation of a safety zone around Iran’s Russian-built Bushehr nuclear plant to prevent a major disaster, two days after a projectile struck within several hundred metres of its reactor, Reuters reports.
Alexei Likhachev, head of state nuclear corporation Rosatom, said there were 72 tonnes of fissile material and 210 tonnes of spent nuclear fuel at the site, and that any strike on it could lead to a catastrophe.
“If an incident were to occur, it would be at least regional in scale and would affect a large number of countries in the Middle East. None of the parties to the conflict would avoid radiation exposure in the event of a serious accident at Bushehr,” Likhachev told reporters.
An explosion has been heard near the international airport of Erbil city in the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region, AFP journalists report, saying they saw smoke rise just outside the surrounding fence.
A witness said two similar explosions were heard in the morning.
Erbil is home to a major US consulate complex, while its airport houses US-led coalition troops.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says there is no “time frame” for ending the US-Israeli war against Iran, AFP reports.
“We wouldn’t want to set a definitive time frame,” Hegseth told reporters, adding that “we’re very much on track” and that President Donald Trump will be the one to decide when to stop.
“It will be at the president’s choosing, ultimately, where we say, ‘Hey, we’ve achieved what we need to.’”
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on March 19, 2026. — AFP
Hezbollah says its fighters are battling Israeli forces in south Lebanon, as a military source on the ground says Israeli troops are slowly advancing while “systematically destroying” border towns, AFP reports.
In a statement, Hezbollah said its fighters had ambushed Israeli troops entering the border town of Taybeh and destroyed a tank.
US and Israeli attacks this morning in Iran’s north-western city of Tabriz have killed several people, including four taekwondo athletes, Al Jazeera reports citing Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has condemned “in the strongest terms” Iranian strikes on Qatar’s main gas hub, the world’s largest liquefied natural gas facility, AFP reports.
“We are working towards a swift resolution to the situation in the Middle East, in the best interests of the British people,” Starmer added in a post on X.
He discussed the “egregious” strikes with Nato chief Mark Rutte and French President Emmanuel Macron in a call today, Starmer’s office said in statement.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has said the US objectives in Iran are on target and on plan and they have not changed since day one, Reuters reports.
“Today again will be the largest strike package on Iran,” Hegseth said, adding Iran’s ability to make new ballistic missiles has probably been hit hardest.
A pregnant Palestinian woman has died in the occupied West Bank from shrapnel wounds sustained after an Iranian missile attack, bringing the death toll from the incident to four, the Ramallah-based health ministry says according to AFP.
The health ministry added that a girl who was seriously injured in the blast was now in stable condition in hospital.
Saman*, a resident of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), was at her workplace when a loud explosion occurred in Abu Dhabi — a retaliatory strike by Iran against US-Israel strikes on its territory. Her two children were at home, while her husband was also at work.
Her workplace was far from the site of the explosion, so she did not hear it. However, she remained in denial that such an incident could occur in a safe and secure country like the UAE.
“Neither did I hear the sound of the first explosion, nor did I concentrate on it as it was another super busy day at work,” Saman told Dawn, adding that her colleagues, who were surprised by the incident, shared the news with her.
While still in denial, she immediately checked the news and learned about the incident. Her focus then shifted from the event to the safety of her children and her husband.
State-run Pakistan TV reported that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held separate phone conversations with his counterparts in Turkiye, Egypt, and Pakistan.
“According to a statement, he discussed US and Israeli military actions against Iran, their regional and global implications, and the need for vigilance and coordination among regional countries,” it said.
Italian luxury sports car maker Ferrari has said it had temporarily suspended deliveries in the Middle East as war rages in the region, according to Reuters.
“We are closely monitoring the developments in the Middle East and the potential implications for our business,” it said in a statement.
“At this stage, we have temporarily suspended deliveries in the area, while managing few deliveries via airplane,” the company added.
Iran’s military has renewed threats to destroy the region’s energy infrastructure were its facilities to be attacked again during the US-Israel war with the Islamic republic, AFP reports.
“We warn the enemy that you made a major mistake in attacking the energy infrastructure of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the response is underway and not yet finished,” the military’s operational command Khatam Al-Anbiya said in a statement carried by Fars news agency.
“If it is repeated, subsequent attacks against your energy infrastructure and that of your allies will not stop until their complete destruction, and our response will be far more severe than” last night’s attacks.
The FBI was investigating allegations of leaking classified information against an ex-senior US counterterrorism official who quit in protest of the Iran war, US media reported, according to AFP.
The probe predated Joseph Kent’s shock departure as director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), reported outlets including the New York Times and CBS, both citing unnamed sources.
In his resignation letter to US President Donald Trump, Kent wrote that “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby”.
French President Emmanuel Macron has warned of a “reckless escalation” as Iran struck a series of Gulf energy sites after an Israeli attack on its South Pars gas field, AFP reports.
Speaking on arrival at EU talks in Brussels, Macron warned that if Middle Eastern energy “production capacities themselves are destroyed, this war will have a much more lasting impact”, calling for “direct talks between the Americans and Iranians on this matter”.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron speaks to journalists as he arrives for a EU Summit at the EU headquarters in Brussels, on March 19, 2026. — AFP
Pakistan International Airlines has clarified that news regarding a missile attack near United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) Fujairah involving its flight was entirely “baseless and false”.
“No such statement was issued by the airline and its spokesperson. We urge all to refrain from sharing unverified information,” it said.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has welcomed what he says are signals by US President Donald Trump that combat action in Iran could come to an end, which could allow Europe to contribute to securing peace in the Middle East, Reuters reports.
“I am expressly grateful that the US president sent a signal in this regard last night that he is prepared to bring the fighting to an end,” he told reporters ahead of an EU summit in Brussels.
Merz reiterated that Europe is ready to help stabilise the Middle East once combat action has stopped.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, ahead of a roundtable at a European Union leaders’ summit in Brussels, Belgium on March 19, 2026. — Reuters
Iran’s Tasnim news agency reports a US-Israeli drone strike near the north-western Iranian city of Malekan has killed two people and injured three others, according to Al Jazeera.
One of those killed was a civilian while the other was a security personnel, said Tasnim.
Oman has denounced recent attacks on energy sites across the Gulf, including in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Al Jazeera reports citing a post by the Oman News Agency on X.
“Oman affirms the imperative of upholding international laws and norms, refraining from striking civilian facilities and global energy supplies, and expresses its solidarity with these nations in the legitimate measures they undertake to preserve their security and stability,” a government statement read.
Iran is considering a proposal to levy transit fees on vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a lawmaker says according to AFP, a potential bid to monetise Tehran’s newfound grip over the critical waterway through which a fifth of global oil and liquefied gas passes.
According to the Iranian Students’ News Agency, the lawmaker said parliament was considering a bill under which countries using the strait for shipping, energy transit and food supplies would be required to pay tolls and taxes to Iran.
A hospital in southern Lebanon has condemned an Israeli air strike it says caused damage to several of its wards and resulted in patients and staff suffering from smoke inhalation, the National News Agency is reporting according to Al Jazeera.
Sheikh Ragheb Harb University Hospital in Toul on the outskirts of Nabatieh issued a statement saying an Israeli attack on an adjacent building had caused significant damage to a number of its facilities, including the intensive care unit.
The hospital’s management said the attack was a flagrant violation of international law and posed a direct threat to the safety of patients and staff, the agency reported.
